<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Child of the Heartless Wind by acommontater</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120684">Child of the Heartless Wind</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/acommontater/pseuds/acommontater'>acommontater</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Inbetweens [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Avatar: Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, Grief/Mourning</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-07-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 09:01:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>8,158</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120684</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/acommontater/pseuds/acommontater</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Toph is the first one to find out and for once she wishes that her ability to detect a lie had been wrong.</p><p>(Or, The GAang and dealing with the end and beginning of the Avatar cycle.)</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aang &amp; The Gaang (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Katara &amp; Sokka (Avatar), The Gaang &amp; Zuko (Avatar)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Inbetweens [4]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2046899</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>349</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>1180</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Toph</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Writes fic about fictional characters coping with the death of a fictional character to help yourself cope with the death of a fictional character even though you knew it was an inevitability. (aka the Legend of Korra s1 hurt me, so I wrote fic to deal with it.) Nothing necessarily contradicts canon.</p><p>Title is from Sara Teasdale's poem 'The Cloud'.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>Aang’s death is a shock as much as it’s not.</p><p> </p><p>He’d told them months ago that he didn’t have much time left. The last few years had taken a toll that had shaken all of them- except for Aang.</p><p> </p><p>She’d been the first to know, nearly three years before.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>One of them had asked how he was doing, and he’d laughed brightly and lied through his teeth. He’s as light on his feet as ever, but not enough to escape her.</p><p>Toph forcefully yanks him away with her after dinner, yelling some excuse about doing some proper earthbending practice to the rest of them. He follows her bemusedly until they reach a clear space in the trees, out of earshot from the rest. She turns on him abruptly and jabs him in the chest.</p><p> </p><p>“What’s wrong with you?”</p><p> </p><p>She feels the slight puff of air as he put his hands up innocently.</p><p> </p><p>“What are you talking about, Toph?”</p><p> </p><p>She narrows her eyes in his direction. Judging by the way his feet shift a little awkwardly she’s made eye contact on the first try. Point to Toph.</p><p> </p><p>“When you were asked how you were doing earlier, you said you were fine. You lied.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang sighs, not bothering the keep it in check as the wind whirls around them. Toph crosses her arms, unimpressed.</p><p> </p><p>“Just some stress from the city council and the usual.”</p><p> </p><p>Toph flings her hands in the air.</p><p> </p><p>“Still <em>lying</em>, twinkletoes!” She stomps a low bench out and throws herself down onto it with a huff.</p><p> </p><p>The sound from off the bay and from the temple abruptly cuts out. She tilts her head as Aang’s robes rustle quietly when he sits on the ground in front of her.</p><p> </p><p>“You can’t say anything.” He says quietly. Ah, a secret, hence the air shield of silence around the clearing. “I haven’t had a chance to talk to Katara yet.”</p><p> </p><p>Toph gestures for him to continue.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m dying, Toph.”</p><p> </p><p>She stills, then slowly uncrosses her arms.</p><p> </p><p>“<em>What</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>“I… I’ve been feeling a bit off for a while now, so I spoke with the spirits and past Avatars a few days ago. Apparently being on ice for a while is good for seaweed wraps, not so much for Avatars.” His voice is carefully light.</p><p> </p><p>She frowns at him.</p><p> </p><p>“What does that even mean? You’re barely any older than me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m over a hundred years older than you, Toph.” He says quietly. “And I’m starting to feel it.”</p><p> </p><p>They sit silently for a moment.</p><p> </p><p>“Well. Shit.” Toph finally says.</p><p> </p><p>Aang laughs a little hysterically at her succinct assessment.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” His breath hitches a little and she jabs a finger at him.</p><p> </p><p>“No, nope, absolutely not, save the waterworks, twinkletoes. Everyone dies eventually, you aren’t special.” Her voice cracks despite herself.</p><p> </p><p>He laughs wetly.</p><p> </p><p>“Except for you, right?”</p><p> </p><p>“Damn straight. I’m going to live forever or until the spirits of the earth drag me kicking and screaming outta here.” She huffs.</p><p> </p><p>The sounds of the bay and island slowly trickle back in as Aang drops the bubble of air.</p><p> </p><p>“Please don’t say anything just yet? I want to have a little more time before I start getting fussed over.”</p><p> </p><p>Toph nods and endures a hug before they head back to join the others.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>The time passes, as it always will. If Toph finds more excuses than usual to be in the city and stop by Air Temple Island, well. It’s just meant to be. She can’t help it if business brings her by more often.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>The feeling of such a familiar and dear heartbeat stopping and not restarting is one Toph wishes she could scrub from her body. She waits a minute, laying on her back on the floor of the room down the hall from Aang and Katara’s, staring up at where she knows the ceiling is for a long time before she gets to her feet and goes to wake the others. There must be a truly terrible expression on her face if the way Sokka reacts when she knocks on the door of the guest room where he and Zuko are sleeping is any indication. She grips her friend’s hands as they hold each other upright in their grief.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Toph doesn’t attend the funeral. Not the big, formal one that the Republic holds at least.</p><p> </p><p>(Former Chief Beifong, Master Earthbender, teacher of the Avatar, and co-founder of the city stands and leads the formal honor guard for a colleague, for the Avatar, alongside other international leaders. Toph forces herself not to cry in front of the city and makes snarky remarks under her breath to try to get the Fire Lord to laugh at inappropriate times.)</p><p> </p><p>She leaves the city after he passes, the same as Katara. She attends the small gathering at the Southern Air Temple with their little family and then promptly goes off the grid.</p><p>The city is too loud now between the satomobiles, radio waves, construction, and thousands of people constantly in motion. The only peaceful place had been Air Temple Island. She knows that Tenzin wouldn’t have minded her staying there, awkward though it might have been. But it isn’t theirs anymore.</p><p> </p><p>(Three years later she finds out belatedly that Sokka is gone too. It had taken longer for the city to settle than they’d anticipated apparently. Toph doesn’t blame Lin, not really. She tries not to. She doesn’t attend the funeral, partly because she finds out too late, partly because she wouldn’t have made it to the South Pole in time anyway. Toph doesn’t know if Katara will ever forgive her for that. Isn’t sure some days if she forgives herself for it. She bends a rock into a carved memorial stone for his grave and sends it south. She isn’t sure if it ever arrives.)</p><p> </p><p>She wanders for a few years, restless. Her job, her children, some of her oldest friends, the city they’d helped create with their dreams, all gone. Maybe Aang’s whole peace and enlightenment schtick had some merit after all.</p><p> </p><p>It takes a few years of travel before she finds the swamp, nearly by accident. Toph vaguely recollects Katara, Aang, and Sokka telling her about a spirity swamp they’d come across a couple times before meeting her. It’s how Twinkletoes had known to find her in the first place. She huffs at it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m one of the best protectors in the world, so I’m going to live here and keep anyone else out, and you won’t pull any spirity mumbo jumbo on me in return, fair?” She says, crossing her arms at the expanse of greenery before her. She waits a beat then nods decisively. “Good. Glad we understand each other.”</p><p> </p><p>It’s another fifteen years before she’s bothered by the Avatar again and she rolls her eyes hard.</p><p> </p><p>“All that time telling you I wouldn’t be put through training another Avatar and yet here I am. Doing <em>spiritual training</em>.” She scowls in the direction of a sleeping Korra. “I can hear you laughing at me, Aang.”</p><p> </p><p>A random cool breeze drifts by her, ruffling her bangs in a familiar way, and she sighs.</p><p> </p><p>Maybe it’s time she rejoins the world, just a little.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Katara</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Katara is the first one to notice.</p><p>It’s the cusp of a full moon as they sit for dinner. Aang is across the table laughing at something one of the air acolytes has said when she senses a falter. She frowns.</p><p> </p><p>Bloodbending is a curse, a hated thing that she will never unlearn or like. But over the years she has found ways to turn it into healing- detecting flaws or out of order rhythms of the body around the week of the full moon.</p><p> </p><p>Aang catches her frown and sends her a questioning look. She shakes her head and gestures that she’ll tell him later.</p><p> </p><p>They’re finally able to retreat to their room after Aang leads the final meditation session of the day and, after changing into sleep clothes, Katara immediately crosses the room to be near him.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hello there.” He grins down at her. She doesn’t return it.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you feeling alright?”</p><p> </p><p>He looks puzzled.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, fine. Maybe a little tired, but nothing outside of the ordinary.”</p><p> </p><p>“Can I check you over, just to be sure?”</p><p> </p><p>He waggles his eyebrows at her and she slaps his shoulder lightly.</p><p> </p><p>“Not like <em>that</em>, for real. I noticed something weird over dinner and just want to check.”</p><p> </p><p>“Sure, sweetie.”</p><p> </p><p>He sets his robes aside and lays down on their bed. Katara pulls some water from a nearby fountain and sets it around her hands. It glows softly and she closes her eyes as she methodically checks from his toes to his head. Aang giggles as she passes over his feet and she cracks an eye to look at him.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry, tickles.”</p><p> </p><p>She reaches the crown of his head and doesn’t find anything, but it doesn’t reassure her. Maybe there’s something she’d missed or….</p><p> </p><p>“Ah, ah, ah.” Aang wraps his hands around her wrists and tugs her down onto the bed with him. Katara drops the water in surprise and he flicks it out the window. “Stop worrying, Master Healer Katara, I’m fine.”</p><p> </p><p>She sighs and settles down.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay, but just, be careful, alright?”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Months later, they settle into bed for the evening- or rather, Katara settles into bed for the evening. She’d come in to find Aang sitting in meditation facing away from the door. He didn’t move as she’d done her usual evening routine, but it wasn’t unusual. He’d join her eventually.</p><p> </p><p>She’s nearly asleep when she feels the dip of his weight on the bed as he slides behind her. He presses a kiss to the base of her neck and she scrunches her nose.</p><p> </p><p>“Your face is wet.” She mumbles sleepily, shifting a little for comfort as his arms slide around her.</p><p> </p><p>“Sorry.” There’s a soft gust of air between them. “Better?”</p><p> </p><p>“Mmhmm. Anything interesting in the spirit world?”</p><p> </p><p>“Something came up that we’ll need to talk about, but it can wait until morning.”</p><p> </p><p>She hums in response and falls asleep almost instantly.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Katara wakes up to find herself alone in the bed. This is also not unusual- between airbender morning meditations, firebender senses, her own tendency to sleep in, and the general nuisance that was city politics, she cherishes the mornings they wake in the same bed.</p><p> </p><p>What is unusual is that Aang is sitting in nearly the same position she’d come to find him in last night. But she can see that he’s not meditating, merely staring out the window, so she doesn’t feel bad about slipping out of bed and draping herself across his back.</p><p> </p><p>“And what deep thoughts are waking you up so early this morning?” She asks, planting a kiss on his dear head.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to die.” He answers, still not looking at her, though he lifts one hand to absently tangle their fingers. Katara hums.</p><p> </p><p>“Everyone does eventually.”</p><p> </p><p>“No, I mean. I spoke with the spirits and they warned me that I only have so much time left. Maybe a couple of years if I’m lucky.”</p><p> </p><p>Katara slowly pulls away and sits down next to him, staring.</p><p> </p><p>“That’s not funny, sweetie.” Her voice shakes.</p><p> </p><p>Aang finally looks at her. His face is serious.</p><p> </p><p>“Apparently when I was in the iceberg, being in the Avatar state for so long saved my life initially, but it drained my body’s long-term life force. And I <em>am</em> technically 164 years old now.”</p><p> </p><p>“So, what happens then? You go to join the spirits and the next Avatar is born?”</p><p> </p><p>He gives her a sad smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll go and be with all the Avatars before me and with all the Avatars that come after me as well.”</p><p> </p><p>(He leaves out the part where one day Katara will join the spirits and Aang will not be there. Will never be there. He will die and she will lose him forever. He will live again, not knowing her, and will die again and again and again and…. She will die and he will never know.)</p><p> </p><p>Katara takes a deep breath. It’s not like she didn’t know this. She’d known what this final chapter would mean.</p><p>(Why did it have to be so soon?)</p><p> </p><p>“Will you do something for me?” He asks gently.</p><p>(He has always been the gentlest person she’s ever met. Even now, facing death, he seems to be more concerned with her pain.)</p><p> </p><p>She nods, not trusting her voice.</p><p> </p><p>“Will you train the next Avatar?”</p><p> </p><p>She closes her eyes, pressing her lip together.</p><p> </p><p>Even if he never asked, she knows that they would still come to her first and ask anyway. The next Avatar will be born a waterbender first and Katara is the best of her generation. It still means more that he asks.</p><p> </p><p>(It will be the closest way they will ever have to seeing each other again. He will come to her a stranger and sit by her side and be a lifetime away.)</p><p> </p><p>She reaches out to take his hand and he grips it back tightly.</p><p> </p><p>“Of course, I wouldn’t trust them with anyone else.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang relaxes, slightly relieved.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll get to be my first teacher again.” He says and she finally releases the tears she’d been trying to hold back.</p><p> </p><p>He’s calm and steady as he holds her and she realizes that he’s already known for months at least, likely more than half a year ago when she’d noticed that odd quirk she hadn’t been able to place. He’s had time to ponder and meditate and plan.</p><p> </p><p>(He’d accepted death as an inevitability decades ago, when they were children. Neither of them has feared dying for a long, long time.)</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>After he passes, Katara readies herself to leave.</p><p> </p><p>(She is thankful that it had been peaceful, in the end. Aang had never wanted a warrior’s death. He hadn’t even seemed that ill until the last few weeks. They’d both been glad to have their children home with them for a while. Bumi had only been able to get a couple weeks leave and Kya had to be tracked down in some remote town before making the long journey back. Tenzin sits vigil at his father’s bedside for the whole last month, and in mediation with him the last days, the terrible weight Katara had seen carried by Aang for so long before their youngest son was born now settling over onto his shoulders.)</p><p> </p><p>She is returning to the South Pole for good this time, her daughter with her.</p><p> </p><p>She is leaving Republic City and its ghosts behind.</p><p> </p><p>(The funeral for the Avatar is a grand mourning that most of the city attends. The now-former Avatar would have hated it, she thinks. She leans on Sokka and he sits tall and holds them both upright for now. Toph stands at attention nearby- Katara thinks she might have bent her armor to hold her upright she’s so still. Out of the corner of her eye she can see the hard clench of Zuko’s jaw, his hands gripping the fabric of his ceremonial robes tightly. They cannot attend the funeral of their dearest friend as themselves, instead forced into their roles as dignitaries and representatives. It’s horrible and all of them breathe a little easier when it’s over.</p><p>Reporters pester the port of their island for her thoughts, her emotions, for details, until she snaps and threatens to freeze their tongues from their mouths.</p><p> </p><p>The small, private memorial they hold for Aang is a quiet affair. They travel to the now restored Southern Air Temple. It takes a small miracle for them not to be found out between Katara and her family and multiple national leaders and founders of Republic City gathering together. It’s perfect.</p><p> </p><p>Toph, out of uniform finally, bends a pyre from the stone. Sokka and Bumi lay Aang’s body down gently atop it. Katara adjusts his robes and holds the hands of her children as they quietly recite the blessing that Aang had taught them. Zuko lights the fire, the beautiful light of the dragon fire they’d learned together so long ago lighting up the whole mountainside. They sit silently together. Tenzin carefully bends his father’s ashes into the wind until they nearly disappear, before bringing them back to the jar the acolytes had prepared for them. After a long, long time, the pyre is empty, and the jar is full. Toph bends the stone back again, leaving the courtyard as smooth as if it had never been disturbed. They process slowly through the restored temple, until they reach the carved space left for Aang to be interred. Tenzin sets the jar down. Katara squeezes the hand of the last airbender as he steps back to join them and he leans into her, trembling.)</p><p> </p><p>After the death of her husband, she doesn’t talk about him. She speaks of Avatar Aang, when she is consulted, or someone works up the nerve to ask her.</p><p> </p><p>Katara does not speak of her husband outside of her family. The press, random strangers, they don’t get to have him. They don’t get to know how sometimes the pillows, or her own clothes left silly creases across the smooth skin of the head of her best friend when he fell asleep in awkward positions. They don’t get to know how the love of her life had grieved every autumn for his people. They don’t get to know their life.</p><p> </p><p>She goes home and is finally able to breathe in the icy air.</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>EDIT 8/20/2020- The AMAZING ct-draws over on tumblr created a comic of a scene from this chapter and it's fantastic go put it in your eyeballs: ct-draws.tumblr.com/post/626933077673934848/appassaddle-ct-draws-read-an-absolutely</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Sokka</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>They manage to keep it a secret from Sokka for nearly a year.</p><p> </p><p>The only reason they manage that long is because Toph has been traveling, helping Suyin with some big project up in the northern Earth Kingdom, Aang thinks ruefully, staring up at the sky and pointedly ignoring the stare his brother-in-law is giving him.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang.” Sokka says.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes.”</p><p> </p><p>“You… tripped and fell.”</p><p> </p><p>“Uh-huh.” He discreetly tests to see if his leg will support him yet to get up. It won’t.</p><p> </p><p>“I have known you for around fifty years now and I don’t think I have ever seen you trip <em>and</em> fall<em>.”</em></p><p> </p><p>“Guess it happens to everyone sometime.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka squints at him, then lets it go for the moment and extends a hand to help him up. Aang lets himself be pulled upright, leaning on Sokka for support.</p><p> </p><p>“You alright?”</p><p> </p><p>“Um, I think I twisted my ankle when I fell.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang wonders if Toph can pick up on his lie from as far away as she is right now. Sokka just adjusts his arm around his back for better support.</p><p> </p><p>“Well then let’s get you to my sister to get fixed up.”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Sokka manages to corner Katara after dinner. Aang has vanished to lead evening meditations with Tenzin and Sokka slips into the kitchen under the guise of helping clean up. Not that there’s actually much to do- one of the perks of having a master waterbender in the family.</p><p> </p><p>He leans on the counter by the sink, still holding his after dinner cup of tea.</p><p> </p><p>“So, what’s going on with Aang?”</p><p> </p><p>The dishes Katara had been about to set aside drop with a clatter.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She says stiffly.</p><p> </p><p>Sokka rolls his eyes, setting aside his tea and taking the stack of dishes from her.</p><p> </p><p>“Yes, you do. He’s never done something like trip and fall before in all the time we’ve known him.” He closes the cabinet and turns back to face his sister. “What’s going on?”</p><p> </p><p>Katara stares at him for a long moment, like she’s debating with herself. Then she abruptly bursts into tears.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, hey, woah, woah, woah-“ He pulls her into a hug as she sobs into his shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>He gently steers them back into the family’s private living area to sit down. Katara finally calms down after a while, leaning back and wiping at her face. She winces at the stain on his shoulder and waves a hand to bend it away. Sokka catches her hand and looks at her with concern. Katara sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know how to-” Her voice catches. “He’s-“</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay, take your time, but please know I am actually <em>very</em> worried now.”</p><p> </p><p>Katara laughs wetly. Then she sobers, taking a grounding breath.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s dying.” She says quietly.</p><p> </p><p>Sokka stares at her. Of all the things he’d expected to hear… that wasn’t one of them.</p><p> </p><p>“What?”</p><p> </p><p>“We’ve… known for a while now.” Katara looks down at her lap. “We’ve been doing healing session nearly every day for the last eight months or so, but it only seems to slow whatever this is a little bit.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is ‘this’?”</p><p> </p><p>She shakes her head.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s not like anything I’ve seen or read about before. It’s like his body is just giving up on him a piece at a time.” She sighs. “Aang said that the spirits told him it has to do with his time in the ice. The Avatar state is only meant to be use in certain times because of the strain it puts on the body and-“</p><p> </p><p>“-he was in it for a hundred years.” Sokka finishes. Katara nods. “Shit, Katara.”</p><p> </p><p>He leans back, tipping his chin up to stare at the ceiling as he processes the information.</p><p> </p><p>“Do you have any idea how, um, how long?” He asks finally.</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe another year or so with any luck. Aang says he’ll know when it gets closer, but it’s a little far off for right now.”</p><p> </p><p>Some part of Sokka’s brain is slightly hysterical that they’re discussing how one of their best friends, his brother-in-law, his <em>family</em>, is dying. Katara leans into him and he lifts an arm to put around her shoulders.</p><p> </p><p>“How are you holding up?” He asks softly. She lets out a short, humorless laugh. “Right. Stupid question.”</p><p> </p><p>“I just. I keep going in circles in my mind.” She says eventually. “Part of me just want to scream that it isn’t fair. We’re supposed to have the rest of our lives together, and it’s going to be cut short. Even if we did have that, I don’t know if it would ever be enough. And part of me thinks that, well, it’s sheer luck that we even met in the first place. So I’m grateful that we got even this short amount of time together. And yet.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.”</p><p> </p><p>They sit quietly together as the sun finishes setting. Eventually the door slides open and Aang walks in, his natural cheerfulness tempered by the serenity of meditation that still clings to him.</p><p> </p><p>“Hello! Sokka are you staying-“ He seems to notice the way they’re sitting and the dried tears on his wife’s face. “-here tonight.” He trails off, giving them a quizzical look. “What happened?”</p><p> </p><p>Katara opens her mouth to speak, but Sokka beats her to it.</p><p> </p><p>“Why didn’t you just <em>tell me</em>?”</p><p> </p><p>Aang freezes for a second, then looks nonchalant.</p><p> </p><p>“Tell you what?”</p><p> </p><p>“Aang,” Katara says tiredly. “He knows.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” Aang deflates and comes over to sit on Katara’s other side.</p><p> </p><p>Katara reaches out and he takes her hand between his own. They all sit, unsure of what to say.</p><p> </p><p>“What can I do to help?” Sokka finally asks.</p><p> </p><p>“For now, just making sure no one else finds out.” Aang says, sounding tired. “The last thing we need right now is anything getting out about the Avatar dying.”</p><p> </p><p>Katara presses her lips together and Sokka sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Okay. But you’ll need to tell Zuko, sooner than later. Toph and the rest of the council too.”</p><p> </p><p>“Toph, um, Toph knows already. I’ll have to tell everyone eventually of course, I just- we,” He looks at Katara. “We just wanted more time.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka watches them for a moment before slapping his knees.</p><p> </p><p>“Right, come here.” He stands up. They look at him nonplussed. “Come here and have a group hug, we’re not too old for that.”</p><p> </p><p>Thankfully, they both chuckle at that and stand up. Sokka pulls them both into a tight hug.</p><p> </p><p>“I’ll be here for whatever you guys need, okay? We’re family.”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Sokka watches over the next two years as his brother slowly fades and his sister carries grief for two. He feels helpless, even with all that he tries to help. This isn’t an enemy he can fight for them.</p><p> </p><p>Time is an undefeated victor.</p><p> </p><p>He offers to be there when they tell their kids, but Katara turns him down.</p><p> </p><p>(Kya and Bumi show up at his apartment later that night, angry and heartbroken. He’d set up the guest beds just in case. They leave in the morning with tight, grateful hugs.)</p><p> </p><p>It’s after a nice family dinner on the island that he goes for a walk. He heads up to the highest point for the beautiful view across the bay. In the clearing at the peak he nearly trips over Tenzin.</p><p> </p><p>“Whoops, hey, didn’t see you there!” Sokka sits down easily next to his nephew.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh, hey, Uncle Sokka.” Tenzin’s voice is rough. He’s clearly been crying and hastily uses the sleeves of his robes to wipe at his face.</p><p> </p><p>His nephew is a grown man and out of his siblings he’d always been the one most difficult to get to know. Fortunately, he also takes after the parent that Sokka’s known since birth.</p><p> </p><p>“You okay?”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, yes. Um.” Tenzin seems to try to take a steadying breath and fails, voice cracking. “No.”</p><p> </p><p>“What’s on your mind?” Sokka stretches out his legs in front of them, grunting as his knee protests the motion.</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know if I can do it.”</p><p> </p><p>“Do what?”</p><p> </p><p>“Everything. I’m going to have to take on <em>everything</em> and I don’t even have the advantage of being the Avatar like him.”</p><p> </p><p>Ah. That. Sokka squints down at the water.</p><p> </p><p>“Do me a favor?” He points. “Count the waves.”</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Tenzin looks confused.</p><p> </p><p>“Count the waves, just for a minute.”</p><p> </p><p>He waits until he can hear his nephew counting under his breath. Then waits a couple minutes more until his breathing no longer sounds like he’s on the edge of hysteria. Then gives it a moment longer.</p><p> </p><p>“You know,” Sokka says finally. “we Water Tribe people have a saying- life is like a wave. You can fight it and drown or ride with it and trust it will carry you to shore.”</p><p> </p><p>He looks over at Tenzin, who is still watching the waves.</p><p> </p><p>“Nothing you do will ever let him down, you know.”</p><p> </p><p>Tenzin slumps a little.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to have to carry a whole culture by myself.”</p><p> </p><p>“Not by yourself, you have all the Acolytes, you have Kya and Bumi and your mom and me, and your other aunts and uncles.” He nudges him with his elbow. “We’re all here for you.”</p><p> </p><p>“You know what I mean.” Tenzin says wearily. Sokka sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, I do.” He shifts his weight a little. “I remember the day when Aang found out what had happened at the temples. Has he ever told you about it?”</p><p> </p><p>Tenzin shakes his head.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s said that it was the worst day of his life, but little more than that. He doesn’t like to talk about it much.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka looks out over the water, the waves now colored in the warm sunset tones.</p><p> </p><p>“When we arrived at the Southern Air Temple the first time, Aang didn’t know about the war. Katara tried to protect him from it, but you can only hide so many bones and pieces of armor. He found the body of his old mentor, well, what was left of him, surrounded by the remains of soldiers. That was the first time I saw him go into the Avatar state and it was terrifying to witness such grief and anger from a kid. Nearly killed me and Katara by accident with the windstorm he blew up.”</p><p> </p><p>“I never knew he’d found Master Gyatso like that. ” Tenzin says quietly.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, it took a long, long time before he could talk about it. Except to Katara.” Sokka scratches absently at his chin. “But he made peace with it eventually. We all had to make peace with losing people in the war.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka lets himself glance up to where the waxing moon is just barely visible in the sky. Tenzin sighs.</p><p> </p><p>“We aren’t at war, Uncle.”</p><p> </p><p>“Thanks to us! But loss is loss, during war or not. Still feels the same.”</p><p> </p><p>Another long silence lingers between them.</p><p> </p><p>“Is it terrible if I feel like that would be easier?” Tenzin whispers finally.</p><p> </p><p>“What would?”</p><p> </p><p>“If we were losing him because of a war. We’ve always known he’s the Avatar, so it always seemed like there was some small chance that if he was called away he might not come back. So this slow sickness is… nothing I’ve been prepared for.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka shakes his head.</p><p> </p><p>“It wouldn’t matter- loss is like a blade, even if you know it’s coming it hurts. Still takes time to heal, afterwards.” He reaches out and puts a gentle hand on Tenzin’s shoulder. “The good thing for you is that your father isn’t gone yet. You can still talk to him about all of this.”</p><p> </p><p>He can feel the deep breath his nephew takes under his hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Thank you, Uncle Sokka.”</p><p> </p><p>Sokka claps him on the back and gets to his feet. He brushes off his pants and stretches his back with a quiet groan. Sitting on the ground is getting more difficult these days.</p><p> </p><p>“Now let’s get down for dinner with everyone before your mom has my hide for making us late.”</p><p> </p><p>“But it was me that made us late.” Tenzin says as he stands to join his uncle. Sokka rolls his eyes.</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah, like she’d ever believe <em>that</em>.”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Months later, they all go to sleep in their room in the temple. Zuko sleeps on the roll on the floor while he takes the bed.</p><p> </p><p>Toph knocks quietly on the door late that night with a terrible grief on her face, and Sokka knows his little brother is gone. He grips Toph’s hand and loops an arm around Zuko’s shoulders to keep him from collapsing.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>The years go by and Sokka delights in the technological advances in the city. But he still likes to return sailing into the bay at night best.</p><p> </p><p>The winds always favor him as he enters Yue Bay and he still smiles up at the moon as it shines off the water. The statue Zuko had had commissioned of Aang stands with it’s back to him as Sokka enters the far side of the bay, cruising easily on a cool night breeze. He makes his way around Air Temple Island, smiling at the familiar spires. He’s the last of their little family to stay in the city now. Katara has gone home to the South Pole to help instruct a new generation of waterbenders and healers with Kya. Zuko has his duties to his nation. Toph is travelling- Sokka erratically receives a package or messenger hawk containing a rock of some sort to tell him that she’s on the move again. He uses them as paperweights and office décor. (The ones bent into rude hand gestures scandalize the secretaries, but make him laugh.) He rounds the last little island in the bay, looking up at the towering figure. Aang looks serenely in towards the city. It’s weirdly comforting in a way. Sokka shoots him a casual salute as he passes by.</p><p>He doesn’t hold on to the melancholy tonight, instead letting the warm wind and cool water simply carry him to shore.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Zuko</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Zuko finds out when Aang requests a formal meeting at the palace.</p><p> </p><p>He is glad to see his friend and Aang is glad to see him and his family. They have dinner together and Izumi bids them goodnight afterwards. They head out to a garden, sitting down to stare up at the stars. Zuko waves a hand to light a campfire for them.</p><p> </p><p>(Years ago, early in his reign, workers in the palace had stumbled across the young Fire Lord asleep with nearly all of his close friends at one point or another. It had led to some… awkward rumors, especially after the third time someone had walked in to find the Avatar and the Fire Lord sleeping in the same bed. Mai had thought it hilarious and Aang had laughed so hard he’d nearly blown himself out a window by accident.)</p><p> </p><p>Aang chuckles.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s just like old times, huh.”</p><p> </p><p>“I much prefer this to hiding out in the woods.”</p><p> </p><p>They sit quietly, basking in the warmth and good company. Zuko finds himself nearly nodding off despite the hard ground.</p><p> </p><p>“I have to tell you something.” Aang says eventually, his voice barely louder than the crackle of the fire.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko sits up a little, frowning at Aang’s serious tone.</p><p> </p><p>“What is it?”</p><p> </p><p>Aang sits up as well, turning to face him. He reaches out to grip Zuko’s hand, as if to brace himself.</p><p> </p><p>“Zuko, I-“ He stops to steady himself.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko squeezes his hand, concern now on his face.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang?”</p><p> </p><p>“I’m dying, Zuko.” His voice is little more than a whisper.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko stares at him. The fire flickers.</p><p> </p><p>“What?” Zuko’s voice breaks.</p><p> </p><p>“I have a year, maybe two, left. My time in the ice is catching up to me, I’m afraid.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko grips his friend’s hand and stares at him with a lump in his throat. He doesn’t know what to say. His own hair has long since gone gray, but Aang somehow managed to keep a youthful dark beard. The lines on his face lend wisdom, but not age. He barely looks his sixty-four years, let alone more than a hundred.</p><p> </p><p>“I know it’s a hard thing, but I must make a request of you.” Aang says gently.</p><p> </p><p>“Anything.” Zuko’s voice sounds strangely croaky to his ears.</p><p> </p><p>“For my funeral-“</p><p> </p><p>A sudden, hot anger takes Zuko. He wrenches his hand away, standing and pacing next to the fire.</p><p> </p><p>“How can you just accept this?” he cries, whirling around to look at his friend. “Isn’t there healing for this? Medicines to try? Spiritual places to go?”</p><p> </p><p>Aang watches him calmly.</p><p> </p><p>“Why don’t you fight?” Zuko thrusts a hand forward, flinging a n uncontrolled gout of fire towards him.</p><p> </p><p>Aang waves it aside, crinkling his nose at the ashes that land on his robes.</p><p> </p><p>“There’s nothing to fight.” He says, brushing himself off. “It just going to be my time. Even I can’t fight that.”</p><p> </p><p>The anger leaves Zuko suddenly, a sudden and great grief falling into its place. He falls back to his seated place. Aang has long been his most trusted friend. Two of the best healers in the world are members of his immediate family. If there’s nothing that any of them can do then…</p><p> </p><p>“I’m sorry.” He manages. Aang gives him a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s okay. Honestly, part of me was ready for worse.”</p><p> </p><p>“What is the request you have?”</p><p> </p><p>“You remember the rituals for the funerals of my people?” Zuko nods. “Someone will need to light the fire. I’d like it to be you.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko takes a shuddering breath. Then he reaches out and takes his friends hand, bringing it up to press his forehead to the back of it.</p><p> </p><p>“I’d be honored.”</p><p> </p><p>Aang reaches out and pulls him into a hug. It hits Zuko then that he has only a finite amount of time left with his friend. A clock had started ticking down and he’d never even known. How much time had they lost because of him?</p><p> </p><p>“I don’t know how I’m going to do this without you.” He says thickly. Aang reaches up and combs through his hair soothingly.</p><p> </p><p>“You’ll do just fine. And if you don’t think that you will, Izumi is more than ready to take over. You could take some time off. Go and travel for actual fun for a while.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko laughs wetly.</p><p> </p><p>(They both tactfully avoid bringing up how they’d been planning a trip together, for old times sake. When they were both old and as retired as they ever could be from their respective positions they were going to travel the world again.)</p><p> </p><p>“Maybe.”</p><p> </p><p>The Avatar and the Fire Lord sit quietly together until the fire has burned down into ashes.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>It’s a good and also painful two years.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>One night he dreams of sitting in a familiar wide saddle, drifting above the clouds. He looks ahead to see the back of Aang’s head. His friend looks back at him, youthful and small like when they’d first met.</p><p>He clambers back to join Zuko in the saddle, the steady roll of Appa’s flying soothing beneath them. Zuko watches the clouds pass by as they drift.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, Zuko?”</p><p> </p><p>He looks over. Aang gives him a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to need your help for this journey.”</p><p> </p><p>“Where are you going?” Zuko asks.</p><p> </p><p>“To have tea with Uncle.”</p><p> </p><p>“Oh.” He doesn’t know why Aang would need his help to get to the tea shop, they’ve been there a million times before. “Tell him hello from me.”</p><p> </p><p>“I will.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko wakes, suddenly, and he knows.</p><p> </p><p>He allows himself a moment to let the preemptive grief wash through him.</p><p> </p><p>Then he collects the bag he’d packed days ago (traveling clothes, formal attire, funeral whites), sends notice to Izumi, and briskly walks out to locate Druk.</p><p> </p><p>They land with a heavy thud on Air Temple island. It’s the middle of the night still, but Katara comes out to greet him. She looks exhausted. Zuko hugs her tightly.</p><p> </p><p>“He’s waiting for you.” She says wearily.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko nods and hurries through the house. Aang is lying in bed, eyes closed. Zuko closes the door quietly behind him. He looks… frail, in a way that doesn’t suit his high-energy friend. Aang’s eyes slide open and he cracks a smile.</p><p> </p><p>“Sifu Hotman.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko manages a weak smile. Aang reaches out and Zuko takes his hand, settling down to sit next to where he lays.</p><p> </p><p>“Gotta say. Much prefer this time around of having the Fire Lord sit by my bed than leaving me to get buried under ash and lava.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko snorts despite himself. Aang looks pleased. He squeezes Zuko’s hand.</p><p> </p><p>“Go get some rest. I’ll be here a while longer yet.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko unrolls a guest mat on the floor and lays down. He hears the door open and shut again before a quiet exchange between Katara and her husband. There’s a quiet rustling as she must lose the discussion and lay down for some sleep as well.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Toph and Sokka arrive to stay over the following morning. Zuko is greeted with an affectionate punch and hug respectively.</p><p> </p><p>Sokka rolls his eyes at Zuko’s sleeping arrangements.</p><p> </p><p>“Don’t be stupid.” He says, bundling up the sleeping mat. “You can share the guest room across the hall with me, but I have dibs on the bed.”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Zuko is glad of his insistence two nights later when Toph unexpectedly wakes them in the middle of the night. Zuko feels his legs go a little weak at the look on her face and Sokka’s strong arm keeps him from collapsing.</p><p> </p><p>“Are you sure?” he asks weakly.</p><p> </p><p>“I could feel his heart.” Toph’s voice breaks. They stand there for a long moment before moving down the hall.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>When Katara approaches him later, eyes still red-rimmed, he hugs her instead of waiting for the question.</p><p> </p><p>“He already asked me.” He tells her. “I assume Tenzin will be taking care of the other part?”</p><p> </p><p>She slumps with relief in his arms, nodding. Katara releases him with a final squeeze, stepping back to wipe at her face.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s strange, you know?” She says. “I keep expecting to turn around and find him standing there.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yes. Every time there’s a storm at the palace, I half wait for him to come creeping in the window after freeing me from my meetings early.”</p><p> </p><p>They share a small laugh.</p><p> </p><p>“Come on in, the acolytes have taken care of the meal tonight for everyone.”</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>They all sit through the formal funeral together.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko clenches his fists in his lap, staring out into the distance as he is surrounded by strangers who mourn his friend like they knew him. A few people offer him condolences, but the majority focus on Katara and her family. He watches as she takes all the pandering gracefully.</p><p> </p><p>Toph comes and stands next to him after seeing the honor guard off. She reaches out and squeezes at his arm sympathetically. (A compromise since she can’t exactly be seen punching the Fire Lord in public.)</p><p> </p><p>“What a pompous shitshow.” She mutters. “The audacity of some of these people.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko forces his face to remain neutral, only the corner of his mouth twitching.</p><p> </p><p>“I am sure the president means well.”</p><p> </p><p>Toph snorts.</p><p> </p><p>“Aang was the only one who always polled favorably with everyone, as Avatar, Councilman, a general human being. If I could see the president’s face I bet he’s barely able to hide his smugness at getting such good press by showing up here.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko glances to where the president and his wife sit and politely doesn’t answer. Toph smothers a laugh. They wait together as the crowd slowly thins out.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m gonna miss him.” Toph says quietly. “It still feels like we all just met yesterday.”</p><p> </p><p>“Yeah.” Zuko agrees, leaning back against the stone pillar behind them.</p><p> </p><p>Once they manage to extricate themselves from the remains of the crowd, their little family group meets in the home that Aang and Katara had made for so many. It’s quiet for a long, awkward moment before Sokka says.</p><p> </p><p>“Hey, remember that one time when we were in that town and Aang-“</p><p> </p><p>The brittle feeling collapses in on itself and the rest of the night is passed in a joyful retelling of stories. The kids- not really kids anymore, he muses, adults in their own right now for a long time now- delight in listening to old stories about their adventures. Some they’ve heard hundreds of times and others are new to the group. They all talk over each other and recall old inside jokes and happenings. Zuko doesn’t remember laughing this hard in a long time.</p><p> </p><p>A shadow of guilt rears it’s head- how could he be laughing and carrying on like this when his friend, his little brother, is <em>dead</em>, but he breaths deep and lets it pass. Aang, he knows, would be the first to be glad in their boisterous laughter and happy gathering.</p><p> </p><p>It ends the day on a pleasant note.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>At the Southern Temple, afterwards, they all exchange tight hugs before going in their separate ways. Sokka and Tenzin will return to Republic City, Katara with them for a while before she leaves for the South Pole with Kya. (Zuko’s heart aches for her- Katara is the one of them who had loved Aang the longest and she will have to be the first to meet and train his newest life. Her time to grieve is already ticking away.) Toph… doesn’t seem to have any solid plans, just that she will be traveling.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko sits astride Druk as they fly and watches the temple shrink and vanish behind the clouds like it had never existed in the first place.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>They land back at the palace and Izumi greets him with a stoic hug. When they pull back he looks at her seriously, placing a hand on her shoulder.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m going to retire.”</p><p> </p><p>“I know.” She says calmly. He blinks back tears.</p><p> </p><p>“A Fire Lord hasn’t abdicated the throne in nearly four generations, we’re going to need a good plan.”</p><p> </p><p>Izumi gives him a small smile.</p><p> </p><p>“I started working on it last year.”</p><p> </p><p>“….what?”</p><p> </p><p>Izumi takes his hand and pats it.</p><p> </p><p>“You aren’t exactly subtle, dad. When you told me that Unc- Avatar Aang was ill, I started doing research.”</p><p>Zuko lets his eyes drift closed.</p><p> </p><p>“Ahh, my sensible daughter, so like her mother.”</p><p> </p><p>Izumi hooks her elbow through his and starts walking them back into their private wing.</p><p> </p><p>“We can talk more about it later, but you’ve been flying all day and I know you didn’t take any breaks like you’re supposed to, so it’s time for bed.”</p><p> </p><p>Zuko grumbles good naturedly, but allows himself to be lead through the halls.</p><p> </p><p>He doesn’t dream that night.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>When he wakes just before sunrise, he sits up, wincing a little.</p><p> </p><p>He goes and does his morning bending sets and meditation, sitting and watching the sunrise with a pot of tea.</p><p> </p><p>Zuko hasn’t felt so at peace in years.</p><p> </p><p>A slight breeze tousles his hair and he smiles.</p><p> </p><p>When all is said and done, he thinks, maybe it’s time to take that trip around the world.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Aang</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aang is suddenly aware of it one day. There is no thunderous revelation or great shock. It was merely something he didn’t know and then did.</p><p> </p><p>The slight ache in his joints seems more pronounced with the knowledge as he makes his way back across the island.</p><p>They are hosting the annual gathering of their friends and family to commemorate the end of the war in a few days. They never really say out loud that that’s what it’s for, but the fierce celebration at the end of the summer is perfect for them. Even Kya and Bumi will make their way home for a few days. He smiles at the thought of getting to see everyone together again.</p><p> </p><p>Aang nods in greeting to a few of the Air Acolytes as he passes but doesn’t stop for his usual conversation.</p><p>He had come to terms with death as a child. There hadn’t been another option during the war. Death was or it wasn’t, his own no exception. It is merely another step in the long journey of life.</p><p> </p><p>It is another thing to consider having to tell others about his own eventual death.</p><p> </p><p>How does one tell their family, their <em>children</em>, that they are dying?</p><p> </p><p>Certainly not during a joyful gathering, he decides. It can wait. He still has time.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Toph is both the hardest and easiest person to tell.</p><p>“Well. Shit.” She says succinctly.</p><p> </p><p>(She refuses to be the next Avatar’s earthbending master.</p><p>“You found me because I was supposed to be your teacher and all that spirity shit. If I have anything to teach you in your next life, you- or whoever, can find me again. Some of my lily livers can take care of the basics. Maybe you won’t be such shit at metalbending next time around.”)</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>It feels like he’s breaking his own heart when he tells Katara.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Sokka hugs him and it’s a relief.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>Zuko looks like someone has stabbed him.</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>His children all react differently. Bumi looks furious and Kya looks stricken and both of them leave with a slam of doors. (He understands their anger at being kept in the dark so long. Sokka sends word that they’re with him for the night and he understands.) Tenzin looks like he’s struggling between passing out and bursting into tears.</p><p> </p><p>He’s a grown man, but he still clings to his father when Aang pulls him into a hug. (He wishes the other two would have let him do the same for them.)</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>It’s late at night, but Aang isn’t asleep. He watches the shadows of the leaves dancing in the moonbeams through the window.</p><p> </p><p>Katara is asleep next to him, the exhaustion on her face defeating even the pull of the full moon. He watches her for a while, smiling softly. She’s as beautiful and strong as ever.</p><p> </p><p>When he eventually turns back to the window, he finds the pale figure of a woman waiting for him.</p><p>Yue smiles gently.</p><p> </p><p>“It’s time then?” Aang asks quietly. She nods. “I’m glad to see a friendly face.”</p><p> </p><p>He smiles at her, leaning back for only a moment to press a kiss to his sleeping wife’s forehead. He thinks about their children, sleeping in their own rooms, and their friends and family in other rooms in the temple. All of them safe, the world at as much peace as they could manage. He’s said his goodbyes and told them of his love as much as he can. There are letters (and one stone tablet) sitting in his desk to be distributed and the formal arrangements have all been made.</p><p> </p><p>“I’m ready.”</p><p> </p><p>“I can only accompany you part of the way, the rest of the journey must be on your own.” She says, eyes soft and sad.</p><p> </p><p>Yue extends a hand and he reaches out to take it. It’s not unlike when he visits the spirit world, but there is a sudden feeling like a long breath out followed by the <em>snap</em> of a tether and-</p><p> </p><p>/</p><p> </p><p>In the South Pole, a baby breathes in and lets out a loud wail.</p><p> </p><p>“Oh how lucky,” the healer tells the new mother and father happily. “born under a full moon, you’ll have a strong waterbender on your hands.”</p><p> </p>
  </div></div>
</body>
</html>